Chapter 518: Return

Not looking at Gangshou anymore, Dong Shilang turned his gaze toward the office door.

"Oh my, so many people coming together—today is really lively!"

I had just arrived at the office, and these people came rushing over. Dong Shilang knew they were all here to plead for Zilaiye.

"Lord Hokage..."

After being swept by Dong Shilang's sharp gaze, those following behind Gangshou lowered their heads guiltily, not daring to meet his eyes.

After exchanging greetings, they all obediently stood behind the few people leading the way, Gangshou among them.

"What, are you here to pressure me?"

Jiuxinna, Yuanfei Rizhan, Meicun Yejuan, Ri xiang Ri zu, and other prominent the Hidden Leaf Village figures all appeared in Dong Shilang's office at once.

A huge crowd packed the usually sparsely populated office to the point of being impenetrable.

"What do you want? Are you here to plead for Zilaiye, or to demonstrate against me, the Hokage?"

"I think you're not here to plead for Zilaiye but to force me to get rid of him."

As he spoke, an icy cold light flickered in Dong Shilang's eyes, sweeping over everyone present.

I haven't even done anything to Zilaiye yet, and these people can't wait to jump out—do they still see me as the Hokage in their eyes?

"Uh-oh..."

After being swept by Dong Shilang's icy gaze, those present weren't fools; they immediately realized what was happening.

We have committed a grave taboo.

Let alone saving Zilaiye; a single misstep could get him killed, which is quite possible.

"Lord Hokage, you've misunderstood; we only came to discuss things with you..."

Yuanfei Rizhan, as a former Hokage, knew all too well the consequences of such a situation, and hastily interjected, hoping to gloss over it.

At the same time, he sighed inwardly; lately, Orochimaru's affairs have left him somewhat flustered, otherwise he wouldn't have missed such a major mistake.

"Let's discuss..."

Racking his brains, Yuanfei Rizhan couldn't figure out what excuse to use to explain why so many of them had come together to see the Hokage.

Because he was too anxious, faint sweat already appeared on his forehead.

He well understood a leader's mindset.

Just as the Hokage said, having so many people come together to plead for Zilaiye would not help him at all and might even get him killed.

"All right, everyone, go back; I will carefully consider the matter of Zilaiye."

With that sentence, he sent everyone, including Gangshou, away, and Dong Shilang began to ponder how he should handle the Zilaiye affair.

"This guy really managed to find himself a headache!"

Zilaiye is very popular—I know that—but I didn't expect that, just after locking him up in prison, so many people would come to plead for him.

Look at these people: the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, the former Hokage, the Hokage's aide, the chiefs of all clans—they cover families, commoners, and aristocracy.

If he hadn't acted decisively and sent them all away, the trouble would have been considerable.

"Gangshou, what do you think we should do now?"

Outside the Hokage building, the Third Hokage looked at his disciple before him, already somewhat at a loss.

The Orochimaru matter alone was enough to give him a headache; he hadn't expected that Zilaiye's side would also run into trouble, with so many people now pressuring the Hokage together.

One misstep could really doom Zilaiye.

"... I don't know!"

Rolling her eyes, Gangshou also hadn't expected things to turn out like this.

She merely had Jingyin inform the teacher, then came to see the Hokage.

Who would have thought the news would spread so quickly?

Moreover, these people all happened to come together to plead with the Hokage; this backfired, and she had no idea what to do.

"The situation… surely isn't really as Lord Hokage said, is it!"

Seeing the surroundings fall silent, Jiuxinna asked weakly, completely lacking her usual fiery demeanor.

"The problem probably isn't that serious." Furrowing her brow in thought, Gangshou replied: "Since the Hokage can openly lay out the issue, it shows he has no intention of killing Zilaiye."

If Dong Shilang were to yield to pressure and reluctantly agree to them, things could really become troublesome.

Now, not even giving them a chance to plead, the problem shouldn't be serious.

Moreover, after interacting with him for so long, she has a rough understanding of the Hokage's personality.

It's not the sort of personality that cannot tolerate others.

"Everyone, disperse!"

Waving her hand, Gangshou snatched the little pig from Jingyin's grasp and led the way toward the gambling house, wanting to verify her suspicion.

Meanwhile, those present exchanged glances, then scattered like birds and beasts, with no one mentioning Zilaiye again.

Half a month later, at the gate of the Hidden Leaf Village.

A group of the Hidden Leaf Village villagers gazed eagerly toward the gate, whispering among themselves.

"Youji, I heard your husband is on this prisoner exchange list—is that true?"

A middle-aged woman, looking at the young woman beside her, asked, her face showing an envious expression.

"Mm!"

Without further words, the young woman simply tightened her hold on the three-year-old child in her arms, staring blankly at the gate.

Seeing that, the woman who had asked also said nothing more, but pricked up her ears to start listening to the local gossip.

"Have you heard? This prisoner exchange will be divided into three batches, bringing back nearly 500 captives in total."

"500 people? Could there really be that many?"

"You don't know what you're talking about; this is still an understatement. After several Ninja World Wars, many of the missing have been captured by other villages."

"This time it's not just one village, but all the villages releasing prisoners together, so the number naturally increased."

"Why not release everyone at once? This way, wouldn't it allow these people to reunite with their families sooner?"

"Probably… being slower is safer!"

"I heard that to ransom them, the village spent a lot of money. Some of them, in order to survive, sold the village's intelligence, and I don't know why Lord Hokage still wanted to rescue them."

"With the agreement of the Sand Ninja and the Rock Ninja, this prisoner exchange proceeded in an orderly manner. Of course, due to some reasons, the Hidden Leaf Village didn't have enough prisoners, so they ended up paying a heavy price."

"After the village notified the families of the list of prisoners to be released, the village has been discussing this matter all this time."

"Some agreed, thinking it was a good thing that would let these people return home and reunite with their families; others opposed, considering it a sign of weakness."

"Those who were released were also said to have definitely sold the village's intelligence, and all sorts of talk claimed they weren't worth rescuing; the arguments continued without end."

"They're here! They're here!"

"Far off, one could see a group of ragged, weak-bodied people, their steps unsteady, marching toward the the Hidden Leaf Village gate."

"When these people drew near, one could see faint wounds on their bodies, and some could no longer walk alone, needing to be supported by their companions to walk—former comrades."

"All the villagers present stopped their discussion and simply watched them silently."

"Husband!"

"Yuki, holding a child, upon seeing one familiar figure, could no longer control her emotions and burst into tears."

"She rushed toward a young man in the crowd."

"Not only her, but the surrounding the Hidden Leaf Village villagers who had already received the news and were waiting for their relatives to return also rushed out of the crowd, running toward their longed‑for family members."

"Welcome home!"

"After venting her emotions, Yuki carefully examined her husband, seeing his body swaying on the verge of collapse, her eyes filled with tears."

"Is this… Makoto?"

"Looking at the child in his wife's arms, the young man, whose body had already been barely able to bear the burden, straightened himself once again."

"He was merely an ordinary the Hidden Leaf Village Chunin; after being captured, he endured brutal torture, and his ability to persevere was also due to the fact that back in the Hidden Leaf Village he had a pregnant wife waiting for his news."

"Otherwise, he would have long ago been like most of the captured people—either confessing early and being mercilessly killed by those enemies."

"Yes, the sooner one confessed, the more likely they were to be killed by the enemy."

"Their only value while alive was the intelligence in their heads; if even that were lost, they would not be far from death."

"These people themselves knew this, but faced with endless torture, they only wished to end this torment."

"And he, persisting for a hope that didn't even exist, had held on until now, never imagining that he would actually have a chance to return to the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Seeing his wife and child."

"Of course, while everyone was still immersed in the atmosphere of family reunions, there were also some differing voices."

"What did you say?"

"Chitoshi, remarried with the child?"

"A fellow prisoner, equally weak in body, upon hearing his old mother's words, was completely stunned, his face full of disbelief."

"This is absolutely impossible; I love her so much, how could she possibly remarry?"

"After barely persevering to regain freedom, having thought it would be a day of family reunion, the news turned out to be that his wife had remarried."

"For him, this was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue."

"Moreover, such things are not isolated cases."

"Not only were there cases of remarriage, but also cases of becoming an unexpected father."

"Having been captured for three or four years, yet inexplicably ending up with a child under two years old, such occurrences are not uncommon."

"Even there are older individuals who, because they were captured, had their savings split between two unworthy sons, who then squandered it all."

"Among this prisoner contingent of over a hundred, from time to time someone would collapse, unable to bear this blow and added to their physical weakness."

"Fortunately, there were doctors on standby nearby, who quickly lifted these people onto stretchers and began emergency rescue."

"Thank you, Yuki!"

"He tightened his grip on his wife beside him, and despite not recognizing his son, the young man was overjoyed that his wife had not abandoned him."

"And his son, who also resembled him."